The bureaucrats come through...

Some of you may recall an earlier (March 2007) blog in which I lamented the difficulty in getting permission for an air conditioner to be installed in our 1500 building here in Venice. The theme of it was that Venice is crippled by paperwork.

The good news is that somebody down in the Doge's Palace (which houses the office of the Soprintendenza per I Beni Architettonici) reviewed my eight page application (submitted 23 May) for permission for an AC and, by gosh, approved it today! So I am feeling somewhat embarrassed for sort-of bad-mouthing them earlier. So "Brava!" to Arch. Renata Codello and her staff. You may also recall that they wanted an architect to do the application. I did it myself to save €500 and no questions were asked. (Venetians reading this in need of advice, please email me.)

A few week ago, before the above happened, I came home and saw 4 new AC's in the lobby. A neighbour was having them installed. When the job was done I asked this neighbour how long she had waited for permission from the Soprintendenza. She laughed. What she did is what most Italians do: do the work without permission, and then apply for it long after the fact only if, by chance, some inspector notices that the work was done. It is the philosophy that says it is better to ask for forgiveness rather than for permission. It is the Italian way.

So now to get an air conditioner...

P.S., next week an update on the Calatrava Bridge...there are developments.